Due to the increasing complexity and volume of image data which must be processed in the transactions of modern day business entities numerous computerized techniques were developed in the art for managing the receipt, flow, and indexing of such images. One such technique comprises the scanning of paper into an image-processing system by means of an optical character recognition (OCR) or bar code reader device or the like, wherein the image has attached thereto a set of one or more indexes serving to differentiate it from the other images. These indexes may relate to the dates, originator, receiver, line of business, i.e. whatever is required by the end user in order to properly use the image.
In less sophisticated systems, when the image originates on paper, at least the data is readily available to the person scanning it and may be entered manually to the image storage server as desired. In more sophisticated systems, of course, this indexing information may be scanned automatically for subsequent use, for example, in routing the image to predetermined areas in the business enterprise which require it.
Such systems suffer from numerous drawbacks. First, the state of the art in OCR is such that it is still not reliable as required for many applications, the equipment for performing the scanning is expensive, and often the scanning process is far too slow to obtain the image throughput and reliability required. Moreover such systems presuppose that the necessary information for indexing will have previously been properly placed into the image by the supplier prior to its transmission. Additional problems associated with manual entry or scanning of the necessary index information relate obviously to the problems and expense, particularly with large volume systems, associated with wasted machine cycles, a necessity for an operator to manually call up an image and keyboard the indexing data, and the further drawback or difficulty of assigning priorities to various images wherein, for example, a human operator must make manual on the spot determinations regarding the order in which images are processed, where they are routed, and the like.
In the art of facsimile transmissions, historically similar and even more difficult problems have been encountered in reliably indexing the faxed images. In such systems the image typically is received into an image system without human intervention, in which case human keyboarding of the indexing data is impossible, or may be done only by viewing the image after its reception and storage, leading to the associated problems of expense, lack of reliability in speed, automated routing, and the like associated with such human intervention. Thus, systems had to be sized sufficiently large to accommodate the extra manual indexing effort required to store these receptions of image data, retrieve them, and present them for manual indexing.
Yet another problem also present in the conventional systems for fax transmission in attempting to index such vast volumes of data was similar to that of the scanning technology for automatic indexing, namely that reliance had to be placed or often misplaced on the transmitter of the image or fax to include the necessary in formation in the image or the fax data itself in order to facilitate the proper indexing upon receipt of the data.
As previously noted, when the frequency of fax receptions is only casual as compared to the main bulk of the enterprise's load on its image system, there was generally less of a problem associated with accomplishing this indexing step manually it being simply a matter of scheduling a human operator to do the viewing and keyboarding.
However, with the increased pace of modern business transactions, the urgency of a fax transmission requiring immediate attention by the enterprise is on the increase as is the sheer volume of such fax transmissions. Accordingly, it would be extremely useful to provide for an automatic fax indexing method to overcome the cost, potential delays, and the like engendered by human indexing, as well as to provide for the automatic routing of the image data and customized handling as a function of its urgency, etc.
Due to the aforesaid problems, there were attempt with respect to facsimile transmission to provide indexing data to a personal computer attached to the fax machine. Specifically, there is provision for optional data which a sending fax transmission may include with its image referred to in the art as terminal self identification (TSI). such capability being provided in machines adhering to the Group III CCITT Standard, such standard being internationally promulgated in order to facilitate coordination of consistent fax machine capability.
In accordance with such technology, although the TSI data may be included with the fax transmission in order to facilitate indexing of the image, including correlation of the received image with the sender, the receiver of the fax was nevertheless still at the mercy of the sender in having to rely on the sender including accurate TSI data. Moreover, many applications could not justify the expense of employing only facsimile equipment which was compliant with the Group III Standard.
For the foregoing reasons, a system and method was needed which could provide for the orderly flow of facsimile images through a business including indexing of the images, which was inexpensive, reliable, did not require any special act or equipment on the part of the sender in order to facilitate such imaging, automatic in order to obviate the obvious throughput and expense problems associated with human indexing, and which further provided the capability for sophisticated automatic handling of the image such as customized routing without having to decode the information from the image in the fax itself. These and other benefits are provided by the present invention which may be better understood with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: